New Edition of the UNESCO-IOC International Tsunami Survey Team (ITST) Post-Tsunami Survey Field Guide

A subcommittee of the IUGG International Tsunami Commission was convened in 2010 to revise and update the 1998 UNESCO-IOC Post-Tsunami Survey Field Guide. The revised Guide addresses the developments in the tsunami field since 1998, the need to accommodate vastly increased amounts of data, and to incorporate disciplines that were not covered in the original guide. The Guide also advocates a systems-approach to assessing tsunami impacts that examines the full range of physical, environmental, and socio-economic effects and their interrelationship, bringing tsunami research efforts into a closer alignment with the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). This Field Guide is intended to provide a flexible framework to facilitate the acquisition of critical data in the immediate aftermath of significant tsunamis and to balance the needs of international researchers with those of communities and agencies involved with response and recovery. It will be of use to a variety of people and organizations who may either participate in, assist in coordination, or host post-tsunami field surveys. It is hoped that this Guide will promote pre-event planning in countries at risk of tsunamis to reduce the stresses of developing organizational logistics in the post-emergency response phase and make the process of conducting an ITST easier and more productive for both participating researchers and host country organizations. A complete draft of the Guide will be presented at the meeting and members of the tsunami community invited to comment.